The Booms and Fear

Seah Chiang Nee posted an article in the Malaysian Star paper titled, GDP up, but no cheer heard. It is a true reflection of the sentiment on the ground. Who cares or is interested in the 15% GDP growth? Who would such a number benefits? Only those that will benefit from it will be quietly patting themselves of the good news and the goodies coming their way. The surprising reaction is that the booming economy is going to lead to more fears. The fear of high inflation and higher cost of living. The first frightening news is the arrival of another 100,000 foreign workers to meet the demand of a booming economy. What this simply means is that more people crowding the public facilities and transportation system. Higher property prices. More social problems, more competition by cheap labour. Singaporeans would likely ask, what is in it for me? Economic boom, bigger reserves, GIC and Temasek’s holding in record high. For who, benefit who? Singaporeans would be lucky to be given an angpow of a few hundred bucks. The trouble is that no sooner than the angpow is received, they will be taken back in many other ways. The public transport companies have already started to raise their fares by a whopping 40% and the people are asked to tolerate and wait for it to benefit them. This is new. In the past, they give first before taking back. Now take first then give and probably take back more later. Maybe this will answer Seah Chiang Nee’s observation on why no cheer for a booming economy.

The Cocks are crowing

With the high ridership in public transport system, particularly the trains, all kinds of brilliant and silly ideas are being churned out. There are actually no brilliant ideas at all but mostly silly ones. They are as silly as those offered and implemented to reduce road congestions. All ends up with the motorists paying more for being caught in slow traffic and jams. The silly ideas being bounced around will do the same thing. They will increase fares without improving the situation. The problem must be addressed first if we are to solve the overcrowding in trains. The problem is simply too many commuters and too few trains, like too many cars and too few roads. Some of the ideas like employing staff to shove commuters into trains were happily suggested as if it is a fashionable and acceptable thing because the Japanese are doing it. It is obnoxious to shove people around like animals into a cage. Never learn or do silly things just because a developed country is doing it. Think first, on what is good, reasonable and desirable in a first class transport system. Don't copy blindly. Another silly idea is to charge more for peak hours like ERPs. Another stupid idea of course. Most of the commuters are not rich and have to arrive at their places of work on time. Stop thinking of fleecing the poor commuters on an inefficient or inadequate system. The overcrowding is a simple manifestation that the train system is unable to cope with the increase ridership. You need more trains running or more lines. On the contrary you need to bring down ridership. The latter is no go as the public are encouraged to take public transport and give up their cars. Wait till another 100,000 foreign workers join the crowd. The signs of over capacity are there for all to see. The island is overcrowded and the infrastructure is straining. The flooding is another sign that there is just so much space left and further development or demands on space will lead to system breakdown. Say again, 6.5 million or 10 million population is our target? We need more people to ensure economic growth? It is time to stop adding more sardines into the tiny can.

Inviting a wolf into a sheep pen

Asean's invitation of the US to play a bigger role in the region is like inviting a wolf into a sheep pen. The US is notorious for warmongering. In fact it thrives on wars. It depends on wars to survive, to keep its weapons industry going, its huge military forces and weapons useful. Starting wars and propagating wars is the US way to sustain its economy and keep itself relevant. Wherever the Americans are, there will be wars. The latest casualty is Pakistan. It had many years of peace without the US. The moment Musharraff went dining with George Bush, the country was plunged into warfare. And it is still at war. The other notables are Iraq and Afghanistan. Iran and Korea will be next. And to keep an incessant series of wars in the pipeline, it is sowing seeds in the Asean region, encouraging the Asean states to stand up to China with their backings. The Filipinos used to do that by arresting or harrassing Chinese fishing boats. Of course they knew that they had the Americans behind them to pull the whiskers of a sleeping dragon. Would Asean be thrown into a state of turmoil and warfare? Will Southeast Asia be no longer a zone of peace, freedom and neutrality? We will have to see how silly the Asean leaders are and the consequences of playing with fire.

The Return of LKY

There is no doubt who is in charge in Singapore. Whatever the ministers are doing, there seems to be tacit approval before they could be passed as govt policies, except for trivial policies and issues. And when things get rough, LKY is there, the real goalkeeper. He is the final stage of defense and will not let anything go pass him. With his declaration that there should be no retirement age, no retirement, work till death do us part, LKY has announced his return to politics and govt. It is very likely that he will run for Tanjong Pagar in the next GE. I see this as a good sign. We never have anyone that is near his calibre after all the years of scrapping the bottom of the barrel and paying multi million dollar salaries. LKY is still the man that everyone looks up to, locally and internationally. And he is everywhere today, a little slower but not his grey matter. He could talk his way out against the best minds anywhere. He is still sorely needed to run the country and keep things in order. Let's return LKY to power and resume his rightful position as the PM of Singapore in the next GE.

Good news for first timers

This is the headline in Today paper. It reported that 95% of 4 and 5 rm flats in two BTO projects in Bukit Panjang and Jurong West will be set aside for first timers. So, should first timers be happy? What about those first timers that have been kicked out of the HDB queue and no longer eligible because of the low building rate in the last few years? Many young professional couples would have breached the salary ceiling after 2 or 3 years of work and if they did not get the flat in time, if they found a partner late, they will no longer be able to buy HDB flats even if they are first timers. And their plight is that they will be forced to pay through their noses for private properties. It is like hanging a huge debt on them just when they are starting a new life. It is a very cruel situation for young people to be forced to take up huge housing loans because of mismanagement in public housing policies, or is it an imbalance in supply and demand? And they have to pay the price for the imbalance. Where is the good news to this group of first timers? The media shall do a survey on how many young couples have been forced out of the system and put out a story on this. With housing prices shooting to the sky, every Singaporeans must be eligible to buy a HDB flat. They have served their time in NS, and are expected to fight to defend this country. Why should they be deprived of a public housing flat when new citizens who have not done any contributions to the country, no NS, are eligible to buy public housing?